Cyberbullying, Activities to Help Children and Teens to Stay Safe in a Texting, Twittering, Social Networking World

Children and teenagers text, network and twitter online as second nature, but when emails or texts are used to threaten, harass, intimidate or embarrass someone, they can turn from being a source of enjoyment to a source of crippling anxiety and fear.

This approachable book is packed with advice, games and activities for groups and individuals to help young people understand what cyberbullying is, how they should behave online and how they can stay safe. The activities range from quizzes and competitions to storyboard games and art activities, and cover issues such as how easily personal information can be forwarded, the risks posed by unknown 'friends' on social networking sites, and how to discuss and deal with bullying issues. They are designed to encourage young people to think about their own behaviour and attitudes and give them the skills and knowledge to stay safe in a digital world.

Particularly suited to children and teens aged 11+, this essential book will be an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, youth workers, and anyone working with young people who could be exposed to cyberbullying.

This is a useful little book which largely consists of exercises to facilitate discussion or thought about the use of the Internet. Although the title is cyberbullying, the exercises are broader and look at safety and well as bullying.

The exercises are set up for groups and, as such, are most likely to be useful in schools, youth groups or similar. However, with some thought they could be adapted and used with individual young people too.

This booklet has a range of very useful practical activities to be used with young people to raise their awareness of cyberbullying and how to stay safe online. The issues are clearly outlined in the introduction, with short explanations of how a range of media from mobile phones to chat rooms and websites can be exploited in different ways by the cyberbully. There is a helpful section on drawing up a code for acceptable online behaviour. The activities, with their accompanying worksheets, are simple yet effective and well thought out, and sure to provoke good discussion. There are warm up and review exercises as well as longer activities, using scenarios which will be familiar to all young people. They are ideal for pupils from Key Stage 3 upwards, and some could be adapted for even younger children.

This is an invaluable resource for the school librarian who delivers e-safety lessons as part of a wider information literacy programme, or as an addition to the library's professional collection for ICT and PSHE Teachers.

"Teacher and youth-worker Rogers has compiled an excellent primer for adults to use with young people in understanding and evaluating the risks of various online behaviors. She begins with a concise look at cyber bullying, outlining the perceived security of the perp that goes with anonymity and the resulting fear of the victim, who is unable to identify a bully; the 24-hour access of cyberbullying, resulting in little refuge, even in previously safe zones; and the peer pressure to have many “friends” in online social networking sites, opening up kids to impersonators and frauds. She gives excellent activities to do with children and young adults to help them understand the issues involved and launch poignant discussions among peers, such as providing various profiles of people and having the group evaluate the appropriateness of adding this person to their network of contacts. Any adult who works with young people would be wise to implement these activities, probably as early as age ten. Highly and unequivocally recommended."

"Teens and children text, network, twitter, and tweet in ever-growing numbers. Increasingly, they share their activities, feelings, and pictures with numerous “friends” on social networking Web sites. But also increasing are problems arising from digital communications, including cyberbullying, whereby the technology is misused to threaten, harass, humiliate, or embarrass.Cyberbullying helps parents and professionals who work with young people develop guidelines to educate them about the safe use of the Internet and what to do when they feel uneasy or threatened.Vanessa Rogers, a teacher and youth work consultant in England, gives real-life examples of cyberbullying and offers activities that professionals and parents can do with groups of young people or individuals to educate them about online behavior. The book is divided into three sections: “Warm-Ups,” “Activities,” and “Reviews.” All use interactive exercises to teach children and teens about the many facets of cyberbullying and what they can do to avoid being a victim or participant in this destructive phenomenon.While some cyberbullying is intentional—an unflattering picture posted on Facebook, a hurtful rumor passed along in a chat room, an unkind comment about a classmate on a social networking site—other unintentional but thoughtless remarks or jokes can quickly turn into a rapidly circulated source of pain for someone. This book gives many examples that teach young people about their responsibility when using the Internet and provides tools to help young people avoid being the bully or the bullied.“Young people can utilize a vast range of digital communication tools to share experiences and keep in touch in a way that way that previous generations could only imagine,” Rogers writes. “However, there is a darker side to this shiny new digital world which cannot be ignored.”Rogers is the author of several other resource books for adults who work with young people, including Work with Young Women and Work with Young Men, also from Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Cyberbullying helps to head off dangerous encounters online and is suitable for parents of children and teens and adults working with young people in youth clubs or school. A good reference book for a public, school, or home library, it is written in easy-to-understand language, with helpful examples of situations that can arise and positive, safe ways to deal with them."

Reviewed by: Penny Hastings

Fostering Newsletter

"Children and teenagers text, network and twitter online as second nature but when emails or texts are used to threaten, harass, intimidate or embarrass someone, they can turn from being a source of enjoyment to a source of crippling anxiety and fear.

This approachable book is packed with advice, games and activities for groups and individuals to help young people understand what cyberbullying is, how they should behave online and how they can stay safe. The activities range form quizzes and competitions to storyboard games and art activities. Cyber bullying covers issues such as how easily personal information can be forwarded, the risks posed by unknown 'friends' on social networking sites, and how to discuss and deal with bullying issues. They are designed to encourage young people to think about their own behaviour and attitudes and give them the skills and knowledge to stay safe in a digital world.

This essential book is particularly suited to children and teems aged 11+. It will be an invaluable resource for parents, carers, teachers, youth workers and anyone working with young people who could be exposed to cyberbullying."

Books by Vanessa Rogers

Did you know...

The highly acclaimed resource books by Vanessa Rogers were specifically written for professionals working with young people age 11-19 year olds (up to 25 with additional needs) including: Youth Workers, Ministry Workers, Teachers, Connexions Workers, Youth Pastors, Youth Club Workers, Social Workers and Community Development Officers.